Fruit-evaporator.



No. 792,235. PATENTED JUNE 13, 1905. W. J. PATTON.

FRUIT BVAPORATOR.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 3, 1904. I

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No. 792.235. PATENTBD JUNE 13, 1905.

' W. J. PATTQN.

FRUIT EVAPORATOR.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 3, 1904. 4

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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PATENTED JUNE 13, 1905.

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JIPATTON. FRUIT EVAPORATOR. APPLIOATION FILED SEPT. 3, 1904.

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No. 792,235. I PATENTEDM JUNE 13, 1905.

W. J. PATTON.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

Witnesses;

Attorney? UNITED STATES Patented June 13, 1905..

PATENT, OFrrcE.

FRUlT-EVAPORATOR.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 792,235, dated June 13,1905. Application filed September 3,1904. Serial No. 223,261.

To all w/mm it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM J. PATToN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Springdale, in the county of Washington and State ofArkansas, have invented a new and useful Fruit-Evaporator, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to fruit-evaporators.

The object of the invention is in a rapid, economical, and thoroughlyfeasible and practical manner evenly and perfectly to evaporate largequantities of fruit; to facilitate the positioning of the fruit withinthe evaporator and its removal therefrom; to insure an even and constantapplication of heat to all of the contained fruit; to secure removal ofall moisture in the atmosphere of the evaporator resulting from thecondensation of the heated air upon the fruit and from the evaporationof the juices therefrom; to insure the retention of the flavor of thefruit; to obviate overdrying; to secure perfect and thorough bleachingand at the same time the destruction of any spores or germs upon thefruit or present in the evaporating-chamber, which would otherwiseresult in the ultimate degeneration or possible decay of the fruit, andgenerally to improve the methods commonly in vogue in evaporatingfruits.

WVith the above and other objects in view, as will appear as the natureof the invention is better understood, the same consists in the novelconstruction and combination of parts of an apparatus for evaporatingfruit, as will be hereinafter fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, andin which like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts,there is illustrated one form of embodiment of the invention capable ofcarry ing the same into practical operation, it being understood thatthe elements therein exhibited may be varied or changed as to shape,proportion, and exact manner of assemblage without departing from thespirit thereof.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a View in elevation, taken from one end ofan evaporating chamber or plant constructed in accordance with thepresent invention.' Fig. 2 is a view in vertical transverse sectionthrough the evaporating-chamber. Fig. 3 is a view in verticallongitudinal section. Fig. 4 is aview in horizontal section on the line4 4: of Fig. 2 and looking in the direction of the arrow thereon. Fig. 5is a perspective detail of a reel from which the fruit-evaporatingcarriers and trays are suspended. Fig. 6 is a perspective detail view ofone of the evaporatingtrays. Fig. 7 is an enlarged detail view insection of a portion of one of the evaporatingtrays.

Referring to the drawings and to Figs. 1 and 2 thereof, 1 designates theevaporating chamber or building, the same comprising sides 2, ends 3,bottom 4, and roof 5, the latter being of the ordinary hipped character.The roof and bottom may be constructed of wood, and, if preferred, theseparts may be covered with metal to render them air-tight. The sides 2are suitably lagged at 6 to prevent escape of heat and entrance of cold.In other words, it is designed that the chamber shall be air-tight forreasons that will presently appear. The top of the chamber, as clearlyshown in Fig. 3, is provided with a plurality of escape-pipes 7, whichare normally closed by dampers 8, each damper having connected with itone end of a lever 9, fulcrumed intermediate of its ends upon a standard10, secured upon the roof, a cord 11 or other flexible connectionsecured to the free end of the lever and extending to the ground servingas a means to open the damper as requisite, the Weight of the damperoperating to close it when strain from the cord is removed. Arrangedadjacent to the bottom of the chamber and along the sides thereof areconvoluted steam-pipes 12, which are supplied with steam from a suitablesource through a feed-pipe 13, (clearly shown in Fig. 3,) the supply ofsteam to the coils being controlled by a valve 14 on the supply-pipe. Asshown in Fig. 2, the steam-coils extend to a point adjacent to the roof,and under ordinary circumstances this disposition of the pipes will befound thoroughly effective for securing the objects sought; but it is tobe understood that, if preferred, they may be extended clear to the roofor be disposed on the under side of the roof itself and still be withinthe scope of the invention.

In the operation of evaporating there will be present a certain degreeof moisture in the atmosphere of the chamber, which will have to beremoved in order to cause the heat to operate properly upon the fruit;otherwise the product would be soggy and not properly evaporated, andthe result would be the output of an article which would soondeteriorate and spoil. To obviate this defect, there is combined withone end of the chamber and near its top two pipes or ducts 15, (clearlyshown in Fig. 3,) the inner ends of which are covered by a suitablescreen-mesh 16, which will prevent the entrance of insects to thechamber, the other ends of the pipes being connected with a suitablesuction-pump, (not shown,) which will operate to withdraw the atmosphereof the chamber, and with it all contained moisture and vapors given offby the fruit. In order to keep the supply of air within the chamber at afixed quantity and constant, and without lowering its temperature, thereis provided an air-supply pipe 17, (more clearly shown in Fig. 3,) oneend of which enters the chamber near its bottom. The intermediateportion of the air-supply pipe is formed into coils or convolutions 18,and these are disposed within a suitable furnace 19, provided withgrate-bars 20, fire and ash doors 21 and 22, respectively, and with asmoke hole or outtake 23.

The end of the air-supply pipe that projects beyond the furnace isprovided with a valve 24, preferably of the slide type, by which thesupply of air to the pipe may be controlled, it being a desideratum thatthe quantity of air fed to the chamber shall not exceed the amountwithdrawn. In efl'ect it will be generally desired to have the supply ofair less than the amount withdrawn in order to set up a partial vacuumin the chamher, which reduction in pressure will cause the watercontained in the flavoring-juice of the fruit to be drawn to thesurface, whence it is dispelled by the heated air of the chamber. Thisvacuum may be varied according to the character of the fruit beingtreated, as it will be apparent that fruit containing a large quantityof juice will require a nearer complete vacuum than one containing asmall quantity of juice. By the double action of the heat and vacuum theevaporation of the fruit is rapidly and perfectly secured, and at thesame time its flavor is not injured in the least, which frequentlyresults where heat alone is relied upon in extracting the moisture.Furthermore, the fruit will be evenly dried throughout, and its outer orexposed surfaces will not become hard and dry, but will be soft andpliable at the completion of the operation.

The mechanism for presenting the fruit to the action of the heated airwithin the evaporating-chamber comprises a reel (designated generally25, Fig. 5) and. a plurality of drying-tray supports designatedgenerally 26) carried thereby. The reel may be constructed in anysuitable manner, and that shown herein is exhibitive of one form whichmay be employed and comprises two annular heads 27, connected and stayedby a series of rods 28, in this instance eight, although this number maybe increased or diminished, if found necessary or desirable. The rodsmay be combined with the heads 27 in any preferable manner, in thisinstance by the employment of collars or stops 29, which bear againstthe inner sides of the heads, and nuts 30, screwed upon the projectingends of the rods and bearing against the outer sides of the heads. Thereel is supported for rotation upon a shaft 31, the terminals 31 and 32of which project through the ends of the compartment and work inbearings 33, suitably supported thereby. Mounted upon the shaft adjacentto each end is a head or disk 34:, to which are secured the inner endsof a series of radial bars or arms 35, preferably of angleiron, theouter ends of which are riveted or otherwise secured to the heads.

The tray supports or carriers, to which reference has been made and ofwhich there are shown in this instance eight, correspond in number tothe rods of the reel and maybe of any preferred form, that shown hereinbeing exhibitive of one embodiment that may be employed and foundthoroughly effective for the purposes designed. As each of thetraysupports is a counterpart of the other, a description of one willserve for all. The support comprises in this instance three bails 36,which are mounted for a swinging movement upon their supporting-rod 28through the medium of straps 37, which, as clearly shown in Fig. 2,practically encircle the bar and are riveted or otherwise secured to theunder side of the bails. The sides of the bails are shown as straightand their tops curved, and the series of bails is connected through themedium of angle-bars 38, which, as clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 5, areriveted to the inner sides of the bails and serve as tracks for thefruit-trays 39, one of which is shown in detail in Fig. 6. As hereinshown, each tray-support is provided with four pairs of tracks 38; but,as will be obvious, this number may be increased should it be desired toaugment the capacity of the apparatus or decreased, if so desired, and,as this will be obvious, any detailed illustration thereof is deemedunnecessary. In order to hold the sides of the bails properly spacedapart and prevent spreading when the loaded trays are placed within thesupports, spacing-rods 4.0 are employed, in this instance two, disposed,respectively, near the tops and bottoms of the bail-arms.

The tray 39, of which there may be any desired number employed,comprises a rectangular frame 41, near each end of which, on oppositesides, are arranged rollers 42 to travel upon the tracks 38. The framemay be made of any suitable material, preferably of metal, and thesurface 43, upon which the fruit rests, is made of some vegetablematerial such as ratan, reed, or the like, these materials being capableof withstanding the deleterious action of the acids of the fruit-juices,whereas if metal be employed it will rapidly oxidize and soon becomeuseless and further damage the fruit by staining it. While the form oftray herein shown is one that will be found thoroughly effective for thepurpose designed, it is to be understood that the invention is not to belimited to this form alone, as any other construction adapted for thepurpose may be employed without departing from the spirit thereof.

As clearly shown in Fig. 3, one of the trunnions 32 carries two pulleys44 and 45, the former of which is a loose pulley and the lattera tightpulley, and these pulleys are driven by a belt 46, which passes aroundpulleys 47 and 48 on counter-shaft 49, driven from a suitable source ofpower not necessary to be shown. The pulley 47 will be a tight pulleyand the pulley 48 a loose pulley, and suitable mechanism will beemployed for shifting the belt to the appropriate pulley in starting andstopping the reel.

One of the compartments is provided with an outward-swinging door 50,with which connects one end of a chain or rope 51, the opposite end ofwhich carries a counterweight 52, the intermediate portion of the ropeor chain being placed around sheaves 53, secured in any suitable mannerto the outer wall of the compartment. This door closes down directlyupon a packing-table 54, which is disposed in exact alinement with thelower pair of tracks of the tray-supports, so that when the tray isfilled with fruit by opening the door 50 the tray may be rolled directlyupon the said tracks, the first tray being pushed to the rear end of thereel as the successive trays are entered, as will be readily understoodby reference to Fig. 3. of tracks is filled, the trays are then liftedand placed upon the next higher track, and so on until all of the tracksof one of the supports are filled. To bring the next succeeding supportopposite the door or packing-table, means is provided operable by handto impart a stepby-step motion to the reel and consisting of a lever 55,which is combined for rotary movement with the terminal 32 of the shaft31 through the medium of a yoke 56. One end of this lever carries acounterweight 57, and the other end has connected with it a cord orchain 58, the lower end of which is provided with a handle 59, disposedwithin convenient reach of the operator at the packing-table. Keyed tothe terminal 32 is a ratchet-wheel Then the lowest pair 60, having inthis instance eight teeth, corresponding in number to the tray-supports,and

these teeth are adapted to be engaged by a gravity-pawl 61, carried bythe lever. The are movement of the free end of the lever is controlledby stops 62 and 63, which are spaced such distance apart that when thelever is moved into contact with stop 63 the reel will be moved just adistance suflicient to bring the succeeding tray-support opposite thepacking-table. By this simple expedient the operator will always be ablewith certainty and ease to operate the reel to present the tray-supportopposite the packing-table,thereby facilitating the work of loading thetrays upon the tracks. Of course it is to be understood that when thetrays are being positioned the belt 46 will be shifted to the loosepulleys, thereby placing the reel entirely under the manual control ofthe operator.

As stated at the outset of the specification, it is a desideratum whilethe fruit is being dried to bleach it and at the same time to sterilizeor destroy any spores or germs present in the compartment or on thefruit that would tend to deteriorate the latter, and this is effected byemploying a trunk or conduit 64, which is arranged along one side of thecompartment adjacent to its bottom and is provided with a series oforifices 65, as clearly shown in Fig. 3. Exteriorly of the compartmentis arranged a furnace in the form of a box or casing 66, provided with ahinged lid or cover 67 and in this furnace is placed sulfur, the fumesof which when ignited pass into the trunk and thence through theorifices into the compartment, through which it permeates and by theagitation of the air caused by the rotation of the reel effects athorough dissemination of the fumes and consequent even treatment of allthe fruit. \Vhile but one trunk is herein shown, it is to be understoodthat a duplicate may be placed on the opposite side of the compartment,or, if desired, the trunk may be extended entirely around the four wallsof the compartment, and as this will be readily apparent illustrationthereof is omitted.

The end of the compartment opposite that provided with the door 50 has asimilar door 68 and a packing-table 69, similar to the table 54 anddisposed in exact alinement therewith. It is through the door 68 thatthe trays are removed from the compartment, and this may be elfected byopening the doors and by the use of a pole pushing the trays from thedoor 50 to the door 68, through which they may be withdrawn by hand anddeposited onto the table 69.

In the operation of the apparatus the supports are filled with the traysloaded with fruit in the manner above described, and the door 50 is thenclosed. [t is intended that this door and the door 68 shall form anairtight juncture with their openings or with the outer face or wall ofthe compartment. The dampers are then opened, and the reel 1S started,and by observing a barometer 70, conveniently located upon the chamberand communicating with the interior thereof, the oper-' ator candetermine the degree of humidity of the chamber. hen a certain portionof the moisture has escaped through the pipes 7, the dampers 8 areclosed, and the suction-pump connecting with the pipes 15 is started,thereby rapidly withdrawing the air and moisture from the chamber. Asrapidly as the air is withdrawn fresh hot air is drawn through theair-supp] y pipe 17, its volume being controlled by a valve 24, and itis to be understood, of course, that there will be a fire in the furnace19, which will heat the air, and thus prevent any possible lowering ofthe temperature of the chamber. At the same time steam is supplied tothe coils 12, the flow thereof being controlled by the valve 1 1. As thereel revolves the air within the chamber is constantly agitated, so thatthe temperature at the bottom of the chamber will be substantially thesame as that at the top, and the result will be an even and perfectdrying of the fruit. During this drying operation the sulfur fumes areallowed to pass to the chamber, and thus effect the bleaching of thefruit and the destruction of any germs or decay thereon. As beforestated, the supply of air may be somewhat less than the amountwithdrawn, and this will result in the formation of a partial vacuum,which will cause the rapid exudation of the water contained in the fruitto its surface, where by contact with the heated air it is rapidlyvaporized and drawn out through the pipes 5. on a suflicient length oftime to efiect the drying or evaporation, the trays are removed and thereel is recharged in the manner already described.

It will be seen that when the carriers are loaded with trays filled withprepared fruit and are in motion they operate as fans to drive themoisture off from the fruit as rapidly as it appears upon the surfaceand out of the chamber, thereby in a positive and effective mannerfacilitating the operation of evaporation.

It will be seen fromthe foregoing description that although theapparatus of this invention is exceedingly simple in construction itcombines in a thoroughly feasible and practical manner all of theelements necessary to secure the rapid and thorough drying of the fruitand its bleaching.

In carrying the invention into effect various changes in theconstruction and mode of assembling the parts may be adopted without\Vhen the process has been carried departing from the spirit of theinvention or sacrificing any of the advantages thereof.

Having fully described the invention, what is claimed is- 1. Afruit-evaporator comprising a chamber, a reel mounted therein andsubstantially commensurate in length therewith, tray-carriers havinglongitudinal tracks and suspended for swinging movement from the reel,and trays adapted to be supported by the tracks.

2. A fruit-evaporator comprising a chamber, a reel mounted therein andsubstantially commensurate in length therewith, tray-carriers havinglongitudinal tracks and suspended for swinging movement from the reel,trays adapted to be supported by the tracks, a feed and a dischargedoor, and means for bringing the tray-carriers opposite the doors.

3. A fruit-evaporator comprising a chamber, means for hermeticallysealing the same, means arranged near the top of the chamber to removeair therefrom to form a partial vacuum within the chamber, means forsupplying heated air to compensate for that with drawn, means forsupplying a bleaching and germicidal agent to the chamber, a reel mounted within the chamber and substantially commensurate in lengththerewith, tray-carriers having longitudinal tracks and suspended forswinging movement from the reel, and trays adapted to be supported bythe tracks.

4. A fruit-evaporator comprising a chamber, a reel mounted therein andsubstantially commensurate in length therewith, tray-can riers havinglongitudinal tracks and suspended for swinging movement from the reel,trays adapted to be supported by the tracks, a feed and a discharge doorcombined with the chamber, and means for imparting a step-by-stepmovement to the reel to bring the tray-carriers opposite the doors.

5. A fruit-evaporator comprising a chaniber, rotary tray-supportsarranged therein, means for heating the chamber, means for creating apartial vacuum within the chamber, means for supplying heated air tocompensate for that withdrawn, and means for supplying a bleaching andgermicidal agent to the chamber embodying a perforated trunk arrangedinteriorly of the chamber, and a furnace arranged exteriorly thereof andcommunicating with the trunk.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto aflixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM J. PATTON.

Witnesses:

M. H. Coon, Jnssn PATTON.

